A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA AND TRAVELS INTO THE INTERIOR OF THAT COUNTRY,

In which are included, An Account of the Portuguese Settlements on the East Coast of Africa, visited during the course of the voyage; A Concise Narrative of Late Events in Arabia Felix; and some particulars respecting the aboriginal African tribes, extending from Mosambique to the borders of Egypt; together with Vocabularies of Their Respective Languages. Illustrated with a map of Abyssinia, numerous engravings and charts.

xi + (vii including errata leaf and dedication to the Prince Regent) + 506 + lxxv appendices, 27 plates, 6 charts (5 folding), large general hand-coloured map of Abyssinia with a short tear at the first fold, 2 vignettes and other sketches in the text, map called for at page 453 (The Chart of Annesley Bay) appears on the chart to face page 185 (Chart of Howakil Bay), pages edges uncut and many are unopened, some light foxing, leaf 461/2 stained, untitled cloth back spitting and to top and bottom, overall a very good copy.

Henry Salt was born in Lichfield, England on 14 July 1780. He was the youngest of the eight children of Thomas Salt, a doctor. Henry Salt initially trained as a portrait painter in London. In 1802 he accompanied the Viscount Valentina as secretary and draughtsman on a tour of the east, including Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) and Egypt. He was sent back to Abyssinia in 1809-11 by the government to establish diplomatic and trading links. In 1816 Salt arrived in Egypt as British Consul-General. His position gave him unique opportunities to pursue his interest in the monuments and antiquities of Egypt. He employed men such as Giovanni Belzoni to excavate at sites including Thebes, Giza and Abu Simbel. Henry Salt also collected a large number of artefacts; he was responsible for engaging Belzoni to move the upper part of a colossal statue of Ramesses II from Thebes, known as the 'Younger Memnon', now in The British Museum. Most of the antiquities Salt collected were purchased by The British Museum and the Louvre, Paris. In 1825, Salt published an essay on the deciphering of hieroglyphs, a subject at the forefront of research at the time. In 1827, in the Delta village of Desuke, Salt died of a spleen infection, a problem that had affected him since a childhood illness. He was buried in Alexandria.